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Hi guys, this week is #BritishTomatoWeek and to celebrate that, I spent an evening at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu to learn more about tomatoes.
Here is a fun fact: did you know that tomato is a fruit?
I didn’t 🙂 Botanically speaking tomatoes are the fruit of the vine, just as cucumber, squash, beans and peas.
During the evening we prepared a flat bread and the plum tomato tart you can see in the opening photo, however I feel it’s too elaborate and rich for my standard, so in agreement with the chef Paul Foster, I will introduce you to a lighter version. If you want to see the original plum tomato tart with Parmesan biscuit, avocado and chorizo here is the recipe.
Come back on the blog on Monday for the tomato flat bread recipe.
Ingredients for 4
Tomatoes
- 16 baby plum tomatoes
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 50ml of wine vinegar
- 50ml of sunflower oil
- 50g of dark muscovado sugar
4 oatcakes
Avocado emulsion
- 1 avocado, ripe
- juice of half a lemon
- salt
To serve
- 1 bunch of fresh basil
- mixed salad leaves, to garnish
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Lightly score a cross through the skin of each tomato and place in a bowl. Cover with just enough boiling water and leave for 30 seconds, then drain and wash the tomatoes under cold water. Peel off and discard the skins.
Place 8 of the tomatoes in a heavy-bottomed pan with the oil, wine vinegar and thyme sprigs. Allow the tomatoes to confit slowly for about an 1 hour.
Place the remaining 8 tomatoes in a vacuum bag with the vinegar and sugar and set aside in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
To make the avocado emulsion, remove the peel and stone and place the flesh in a blender with the lemon juice. Blend briefly to combine as a smooth mixture. Adjust the seasoning to taste, then transfer to a piping bag and reserve in the fridge until ready to serve.
Drain the confit tomatoes from the pan and the tomatoes from the vacuum bag.
To assemble the tarts, place an oatcake on each plate and stand 2 compressed tomatoes and 2 confit tomatoes on top. Pipe over a little of the avocado emulsion and some shredded fresh basil.
Garnishing the plates with a few salad leaves to serve.
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